Susanoo, also known as the Tempestuous God of Valour (勇武の荒神, Yūbu no Aragami), is the third ability granted by the Mangekyō Sharingan to those who awaken the abilities Tsukuyomi — which symbolises the "darkness of the spiritual world" and Amaterasu — which denotes the "light of the material world". It creates a gigantic, humanoid being that surrounds the user. As one of the strongest techniques granted to those that have acquired the Mangekyō Sharingan, it is the user's guardian deity, but at the same time, it consumes the user's life.[1]

Contents

Overview

According to Tobi, for a Sharingan user to activate the Susanoo is a rarity.[2] Like the other techniques granted by the Mangekyō Sharingan, the user's eyes and body are strained while using Susanoo because it consumes a large amount of their chakra. Sasuke described it as feeling pain in every cell in his body which only grew from prolonged use.[3] Susanoo is formed through the materialisation of the user's chakra and as such differs in appearance as well as colour between users. Even though it envelopes the user, they can move around within Susanoo freely and use techniques from inside of it,[4] as well as manifest parts of Susanoo — as the situation calls for it.

Despite Susanoo's impressive defensive capabilities, the protection it grants its user is not absolute. The user can be thrown out of the upper half of Susanoo by an enemy manipulating the substance underneath Susanoo. This was seen when Gaara used his sand to pull Madara out of his Susanoo.[5] Also, a sufficiently powerful attack will still result in damage, especially during the technique's developmental stages after which the user is left open for attack.[6] The only known ways to attack the user while Susanoo is active is either to draw the wielder out of the technique and then attack,[5] bind and restrict its movements, or to break the defence with overwhelming force. Susanoo users are also vulnerable to attacks which don't actually deal physical damage to it, such as strong lights and sounds, that can also impair their ability to sustain Susanoo.[7] The users are also still succeptible to such things as sound-based genjutsu.[8]

Development

Each Susanoo goes through several different forms, which the user can switch between at will or even leave in a state between forms.[9] The development of these forms was best demonstrated while Sasuke was learning how to use the technique, gaining additional forms as his control over it increased. In its earliest form, users can only manifest some of Susanoo's skeleton. A smaller version of Susanoo's ribcage is generally produced first which, while providing a good defence, can still be fractured[10][11] or even melted.[12] An arm can also be formed, which is sometimes connected to this ribcage, and can then be used to interact with the surroundings.[13] It is also possible to utilise one of Susanoo's weapons using said arm[14][15] and change its size as needed.[16] When first forming, Susanoo manifests around the user like an aura.[17]

As users gain additional control, musculature and skin begins to appear atop of its bones, which progressively complete the full skeletal structure. It is only when Susanoo's growth is fully matured and thus, the user is completely surrounded, are the vulnerabilities of the skeletal form finally eliminated. However, it should be noted that Susanoo can also appear behind the user, instead of just surrounding them.[18] The user can also change the size of it to fit the current situation.[19] Eventually, Susanoo develops into a "complete" warrior-like form, where its skin, armour and final arsenal of weapons are manifested in their entirety. At this stage, it can anchor the user to the ground, preventing opponents from forcibly moving them unless they can get through Susanoo's various layers. In its final form, this fully humanoid shape is further surrounded by a secondary layer of armour that causes Susanoo to resemble a yamabushi.

Itachi's Version

Itachi's Susanoo is yellow in the manga,[20] while it is depicted as red in the anime.[21] Of all the known Susanoo, Itachi's looks the most humanoid. When seen in its complete form, it has a normal face with what resembles locks of hair framing it. The only oddity that Itachi's Susanoo displays is an appendage on its chin reminiscent of a Pharaoh's false beard. Itachi's Susanoo has two right arms, which are conjoined at the elbow, and one left arm, although it is able to form a second left arm as needed.[22] When in its final form, the armour that surrounds Itachi's Susanoo resembles a long-nosed tengu which wears a pair of magatama earrings. Its right hands also gain plating which give them the appearance of "peeling".

In its primary left hand, Itachi's Susanoo wields the Yata Mirror, a shield which is endowed with all nature transformations, allowing it to change its own characteristics depending on the the attack it receives, and thus, nullify it. With its right hands it wields the Sword of Totsuka. The sword is a variant of the Sword of Kusanagi, also known as the Sakegari Longsword (酒刈太刀, Sakegari no Tachi, Literally meaning: Sake Cutter Longsword), and is wielded by Susanoo's primary right hand and sheathed in a sake jar held by its second right hand. It is an ethereal weapon with an enchanted blade capable of sealing anyone it pierces. Victims of the sword are trapped in a genjutsu-like "world of drunken dreams" for all eternity. Zetsu said that the Totsuka Sword combined with the Yata Mirror essentially made Itachi's Susanoo invincible.[1]

For longer-ranged attacks, it is able to use the powerful Yasaka Magatama, which can be used as three chakra tomoe bound together by a single, circular thread and fired as a projectile[23] or several tomoe strung out on a chakra string, which detach themselves and fire off individually.[24] It is also able to utilise a variation of the generic weapon of all Susanoo, a sword resembling a curved dagger.

Sasuke's Version

Sasuke's Susanoo is violet in the manga,[25] while it is depicted as purple in the anime.[26] Sasuke's development of Susanoo is marked by intense feelings of hatred; whenever angered by the words or actions of his opponents, Susanoo grows in power. His Susanoo is, accordingly, noted to be much darker in composition compared to Itachi's.[27] In both its incomplete and complete forms, it has a more demonic appearance in contrast to Itachi's, which have a more "normal" human-like appearance, possessing horns, a long appendage on its chin and a malevolent grin. Much like Itachi's variation, Sasuke's Susanoo has two right arms, which are conjoined at the elbow, and one left arm, although it is also able to form a second left arm as needed.[22] In its final form, Sasuke's Susanoo is surrounded by a tengu-like layer of armour with jagged teeth around its hood, as opposed to the straight teeth of Itachi's Susanoo, and wears magatama earrings.

Since first entering its incomplete form, Sasuke's Susanoo is able to manifest a sword, which it wields in its left hand. After entering its complete form, Susanoo wields a bow in its left hand and an orb that is able to produce arrows in its second right hand. By using its primary right hand to grab the arrows and utilise them with its bow, they can be fired at such a speed that evading them is nearly impossible.[28] In its final stage, Susanoo's orb is made up of the black flames of Amaterasu,[29] which Sasuke is able to manipulate into various forms using Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi, and its bow grows in size and takes on a more shield-like appearance. Sasuke's Susanoo has demonstrated the ability to wield its orb of black flames regardless of which stage it is in.[30]

After Sasuke gained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the layer of armour worn by Susanoo's final form changed in appearance. The mouth of the armour took on a beak-like shape, giving it an even more menacing appearance. The skin on the right arm and right hand gained additional plating, which gives the appearance of the skin peeling off, and the armour itself became more ghastly in appearance. Sasuke has since demonstrated several uses for his Susanoo's orb of black flames, including forming a blade in Susanoo's primary right hand, which can be used to stab his targets and set them ablaze.[31] Sasuke can also throw the black flames in a tomoe shape to set his opponents on fire from a distance.[29]

Madara's Version

One of the first two amongst the Uchiha to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, Madara awakened a Susanoo of his own after awakening the abilities in both of his eyes and is also able to use it while having his Rinnegan activated. It is blue in colour.[32]

Unseen in others' versions, Madara's Susanoo possesses a complete body, including a lower half and legs, which are visible when it emerges from the ground,[33] as well as two entirely different sides that are conjoined along their spine, each with a distinct pair of arms and a unique face. One of these faces has elongated canine teeth in its lower jaw bracket and two tusks growing from said jaw. The other has similarly elongated canine teeth in its upper jaw bracket instead, as well as a single horn protruding from its forehead. When emerged from the ground, its feet, which have six toes each, face towards the side with the elongated lower teeth. Madara has also demonstrated the ability to float inside of Susanoo when it is fully emerged from the ground.

The right hand of each side wields an undulating blade and the Susanoo itself appears to be capable of contributing towards some of Madara's techniques, as it was seen forming hand seals when he drew down two meteorites.[34] It is also able to use the powerful Yasaka Magatama as a ranged attack, creating a string of magatama that he can fire at his opponents.[35] Madara has also shown the ability to combine this technique with the Multiple Wood Release Clone Technique to create a multitude of these ethereal warriors.

The final form of Madara's Susanoo is an enormous construct with its mouth obscured and a body similar to its full body form. The outer armour, which only remotely resembles the usual tengu-like armour with the trademark pillbox hat like adornment on the forehead, is split down the middle from the beak downwards where the normal Susanoo underneath is revealed. Along this armour, which seems much more fluid than that of other known Susanoo, are holes at the end. It also has four plated arms, two of which wield its undulating blades.[36] The blades are shown to be strong enough to block a caught Tailed Beast Ball being pushed against it by Hashirama Senju's wood golem.[37]

Once the final form's chakra is stabilised, the eye-holes that were there before become more accentuated, with lines running upwards at the side. It gains the traditional long, tengu nose, with Madara's being more angular when compared to that of Itachi or Sasuke's. The mouth is also carved out, with two lines running down to the chin area, and it wears robes, pointed shoes and body armour on its shoulders and waist. Madara's Susanoo also possesses "hair" in this form, which is tied up at the sides. Its back set of arms, which are still plated, extend upwards like wings and its front set of arms, which lose their plating, are somewhat smaller than the plated arms. The undulating blades are replaced with straight katana, which are kept sheathed inside the palms of Susanoo's back arms and wielded by its forearms. In this form, one swing of its katana is enough to destroy an entire mountain range.[38] According to Madara, the power of his Susanoo is comparable to that of a tailed beast.[39] Madara has also displayed a unique use of Susanoo: equipping it onto Kurama to increase the fox's offensive and defensive capabilities.[40]

Influence

Similar to other Mangekyō Sharingan abilities, Susanoo was taken from Japanese mythology: Susanoo is the wild god of sea and storms, brother to Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. He was born from Izanagi washing his nose. Susanoo inherited his father's sword Totsuka no Tsurugi, which Izanagi used to kill his newborn son, Kagu-Tsuchi after his birth burned his mother, Izanami, to death. After his exile for his relentless harassment of Amaterasu, Susanoo redeemed himself when he used Totsuka to slay the serpent Yamata no Orochi and obtained the Sword of Kusanagi from the monster's corpse. He later gave the acquired blade to Amaterasu as a peace offering.

Susanoo's designs are based on Tengu (天狗), well known yokai that are associated with the ascetic practice of shugendō. In their final forms, the Susanoo are garbed in the attire of shugendō practioners, known as yamabushi, and wear hoods that resemble tengu masks, with Itachi's and Madara's appearing as long-nosed Hanataka Tengu and Sasuke's as a crow-billed Karasu Tengu. In Japanese myth, Susanoo produced the fiend Amanozako who is said to have been the progenitor of the Tengu.

Trivia

In the anime, the final form of Sasuke's Susanoo has few minor changes: aside from having five fingers instead of six, and having straight teeth, it was also shown wielding a gourd in the secondary right hand instead of an orb, making it look similar to Itachi's final Susanoo.

Itachi and Sasuke's Susanoo are depicted as different colours in the anime than in the manga. This is due to the fact that their Susanoo were illustrated in the anime before being coloured in the manga.

Prior to the completion of Sasuke's Susanoo, it was glimpsed as a shadowy figure in a genjutsu that Sasuke placed C under.[41]

Both Itachi and Sasuke's final form of Susanoo's mouth area always appear to face to the right, but the mouth area of Sasuke's new version faces to the left side instead.

Sasuke's bow-wielding form of Susanoo bears a great resemblance to Raideen the Brave, one of a number of Yoshiyuki Tomino references in the series (another being the Gundam-derived names of Kakuzu's techniques).

The Totsuka Sword wielded by Itachi's Susanoo is considered to be a "Sword of Kusanagi", although this has been popularly mistranslated as it being the perfect counter to the Sword of Kusanagi.

Itachi's Susanoo carries the Sword of Totsuka in a gourd. An ethereal weapon inside a gourd could be a reference to the hyōtan-kozō, a gourd spirit from Japanese folklore.

During the Sasuke vs. Itachi boss battle in Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, Susanoo doesn't appear around Itachi, but behind him. However, during his "awakening", Susanoo appears around him in a much smaller form.

When it was first shown, Itachi's Susanoo had five fingers on its hands.[42] After that, however, instead of five, it has a total of six fingers per hand, like all other known Susanoo.[43]

Both Itachi and Sasuke's Susanoo were illustrated earlier with only a secondary right hand. However, in chapter 579 they were both depicted as also having secondary left hands whilst in their incomplete forms.

Members of the clan have been noted to access Susanoo without having their Mangekyō Sharingan activated.[44][45][46]